THE QUALITY OF COHERING

Some days ago, my good friend Darko made a reference to my post on Gabo suggesting that it would be good to see the great Colombian writer having a more active role in politics, especially in his country where the difficult political situation is a cause of great concern for everybody in the region.

In general I agree, but I still think, at the same time, that Gabo is one of those that have contributed to save one of the most important parts of our being, namely: our imagination, giving us all moments of delightful peace in the middle of this chaotic and not a small number of times unbearable world and, I think that that is not a little thing. Though I have to say that my brother´s comment really made me think…

Everybody knows that Socrates, founder of Western Philosophy, is a paradigmatic example of coherence: life and work were always a single expression of his intentions; even in the face of his own death he was exceptional like anyone.

During history of times we have had different examples of men who have made their great talent´s expression coincide with their political ideals and fight against injustice. I think that Marx is a tremendous example, because he not just thought that theory and practice must invariably be together but that praxis must lead to a radical change of the foundations of reality. As it is known, Mohandas K. Gandhi is probably the best case: for he was outstanding even in his private life. Nowadays, we have a more modest example (not everyone can be Gandhi after all, as we say here in Mexico) yet a good one: American linguist Noam Chomsky who, beyond his great contributions to the fields of Linguistics and Philosophy, has become an icon in the fight against American elite´s systematic violence.

So, it is true that it is possible and above all necessary to be coherent, especially those who are morally obliged (precisely because of their greatness) to lead “the fight” in favor of “the condemned of the earth”.

As for the rest of us, those examples could inspire us to be better, even just with our neighbors, like any of those distracted post-modern philosophers would say.